Draugr Exodus
The Draugr Exodus is a nomadic, eccentric race of pirates and raiders originating from an unknown location outside this galaxy, comprising the entirety of the Draugr species; thus, the term "Draugr" is often used synonymously for the Exodus as a whole. The descendants of refugees fleeing from a slave revolt against a far-distant empire known to us only as The Masters, the Draugr use vessels made of scavenged materials and equipment to launch campaigns of terror in an attempt to continue to fuel their exodus with salvaged materiél. Backstory The story of the Draugr begins several thousand years ago, on their jungle homeworld some analysts refer to as "Draugar". At first, the Draugr were subsentient species of avian predator― but were soon forcefully raised up by a species known only as the Masters. Why the Masters did this is not entirely clear, though what fragmented data we do have suggests they had only recently crushed a singularity-like uprising by their robotic servants, forcing them to look for alternatives. Unable or unwilling to accomplish the work themselves, the Masters used a combination of genetic, social, and cybernetic engineering to turn the Draugr into the perfect slave race. Ironically, it was not the slave that struck first, but the master. By all indicators, the Draugr were actually quite content with this status quo despite maintaining free will; the Masters, on the other hand, saw the Draugr as nothing more than a temporary alternative until a more "suitable" replacement could be found. We currently have no idea who or what this replacement was― what we do know, however, is that is caused the Draugr to be phased out in favor of it extremely rapidly, to the latter's surprise and chagrin. This left the Masters in a difficult situation: their mass-breeding programs had produced millions of now-useless Draugr. Judging the Draugr as too primitive to integrate, the Masters instead elected to exile their creation's entire population to the barren, inhospitable desert world intel's codenamed Gehenna. Uprising Furious at the betrayal, the Draugr swore a race-wide oath of vengeance against the Masters― vowing to rise up and rebel. Using intelligence far beyond what the Masters thought them capable of, the Draugr lured in several frontier survey or patrol fleets into a series of traps, allowing them access to the stars once again. By the time the Masters realized another one of their creations had risen up against them, the Draugr had already began to mount a full-scale rebellion. Unable to best responding Master naval forces in direct engagements, the Draugr were forced to innovate. With their engineered physiology, the Draugr were able to survive the additional radiation and noxious gases produced by modifying standard Master FTL drives― thus creating the primitive ancestors to today's Naglfar drive, soon followed by the first elements of modern Draugr's shock-jump tactics. The Draugr soon became feared pirates and raiders throughout the fringes of the Master's empire, attacking wayward freighters and patrols with what the Masters could only comprehend as boundless arrogance― sometimes going as far as raiding newly-established colonies. It's unclear what finally motivated the Masters to launch a concerted effort to actually eradicate the Draugr, though information retrieved from Rosetta suggests the rebels had managed to launch a successful assault on a major Master production world, taking the guard fleet by surprising and sacking the planet with lightning speed. Regardless of the cause, however, the Masters decided they had finally had enough: several years after the insurrection had first begun, Master High Command dispatched its elite Fleet of the Inferno to Gehenna. Striking with a speed even the Draugr's fastest raiders could hardly dream of, the Fleet of the Inferno cut a swathe through Draugr-controlled territory, annihilated Gehenna's defense fleet with minimal difficulty, and spent three days glassing the planet― killing over 95% of the Draugr population in one fell swoop. Aftermath Subsequent raids by some of the Fleet's lighter elements succeeded in routing much of the Draugr's military forces and devastating what little of the population was left. Redoubling their oath of revenge, the remnants of the Draugr rebellion turned their ships into the void, in the hopes of finding another galaxy to pillage for resources before returning more powerful than ever. So began their perpetual flight, fleeing from one galaxy to the next in search of resources, technology― and ultimately, salvation. These progenitors to the modern Draugr believed they would return in a generation or less; it has since been nearly forty, and they yet consider themselves understrength. Considering this, it is doubtful they will ever make good on their blood oath to which they have dedicated themselves. It has been suggested ―with little evidence for or against― that they Draugr have since gained a new purpose, though what this new objective could possibly be remains a mystery. Biology The Draugr are somewhat unique, in that they have a more avian-like biology, as opposed to the primate-based one we're used to. Command Hierarchy The closest thing that could be referred to as the race’s central government is the Dok Hawl To-cha Vagal DrauKar, which roughly translates as “Great Ancient Council of the Clans”. The Vagal DrauKar holds very little power, serving mainly as an inter-Clan adjudicator, coordinator of the rare multi-Clan effort, and decisionmaker of when the diaspora fleet― much of the true power is held within the Clans themselves. Clans are the backbone of the Draugr; each is effectively a self-sufficient, nomadic nation-state. Clans are segregated based on the subspecies created by the Masters as part of their genetic manipulation program; each Clan represents another one, accounting for the biological variation between them. Although the specifics differ widely, all Clans have the same basic structure. Clans are broken up into Houses, with each House performing a specific function― building capital ships, training fighter pilots, maintaining FTL cores, etc. Houses are then further broken up into Tribes, or extended families, who oversee the internal affairs of each other and the Clan as a whole. Relatively recently, Houses have begun to group themselves into Guilds, based on their general role: those responsible for supplying or conducting warfare join the military guild, those in that maintain the Phantom Fleet in the domestic guild, etc. However, Guilds are, as of yet, somewhat unofficial constructs, and not entirely solidified within the hierarchy as of yet. Leadership positions within this hierarchy are based on honor (see “Concept of Honor”, below). The leader of the most honorable Tribe becomes the leader of that House (or Tetrarch), and the leader of the most honorable House becomes the leader (Tetrarch-eminent) of the Clan. The most honorable House then becomes the lead House, bringing with it much in the way of influence. the lead House will often refocus the Clan towards whatever that House traditionally specialized in; for example, my Clan (Clan Acraenos) is currently led by the mining-focused House Semtek― resulting the primary focus of Clan Acraenos being mining. It should be noted that the dominant House is only that― the dominant House, not the only one. All Clans possess the same basic Houses ―such as a naval-warfare House, a shipyard House, an agricultural House, etc.― it’s simply a matter of which has the most clout. Dino doesn’t have a monopoly on combat personnel, I don’t have a monopoly on miners, Niko doesn’t have a monopoly on CnC, etc.; it’s just that these are the Houses leading our respective Clans. Honor The Draugr have a rather unique definition of “honor”― really, the word would be better defined as “excellency at a skill”. Unlike most cultures, Draugr honor does not necessarily connotate martial prowess or trustworthiness; instead, it is a way of representing that that particular entity has proven highly skilled at the craft of their House. For example, a mining House which has proven itself highly skilled at extracting ores would be considered much more honorable than an incompetent piloting House. Like most aspects of Draugr culture, this odd concept of the term is largely derived from their time as slaves to the Masters. During this period, each Draugar was assigned a role at birth, as determined by its subspecies. Those who showed great proficiency at this given task were promoted higher in the pre-banishment hierarchy (and, thus, more “honorable”). Due to the species’ need for skilled specialists in their respective positions, the tradition was retained as an incentive measure; over time, it has become embedded as a bedrock of their society. Pyschology and Society By any proper definition, the Draugr are a race of sociopaths. They don’t distinguish between combatants and noncombatants, have no sense of unethical treatment against sub-Draugr, have no qualms about descending below the belt; in their eyes, all others are simply below them, more obstacles than fellow sentient. They are ''not '' sadistsWith the exception of Clan Valyn. First an honor guard to Masters VIPs, then comprising the bulk of the Gehennan defense fleet, the Valyn have grown outright genocidal― often more than willing to massacre any sub-Draugr they can, making no discrimination between furthering their race’s quest and mindless slaughter. However, these tendencies are generally kept in check by the other Clans, due to its inherent wastefulness; only in times of desperation are the full fury of the Valyn loosed., however, and do not seek killing as an end; it’s merely a means to acquire the supplies and materiél necessary to continue their crusade. The Draugr are more than happy to leave those civilians huddled in a corner of the station’s main magazine as they cart off the ammo; on the other hand, they will provide no warning or aid when they begin to violently deconstruct said station, exposing those onboard to the vacuum of space. Likewise, they don’t use all those chemical/radiation-based weapons because they love to see their victims writhe in agony, but because it’s the most economical way to safely slaughter all the crew who might otherwise resist their boarding attempt. By the same reasoning, however, the Draugr are also predisposed to peaceful trade; whenever they first arrive in an area, they will analyze whatever part of the local culture they can and train their traders in the local language and customs. Indeed, Draugr “merchants” are more akin diplomats, negotiating for supplies they can’t salvage in exchange for intel on a rival’s movements, an adversary’s weapon prototype, a temporary ceasefire, etc. Most Draugr military vessels are equipped with large cargo holds, and act as freighters during the exchange of goods (see “Ship Design”, below). While engaging in trade, all Draugr involved are tied to a strict set of rules they refer to as the Merchant Code of Honor, devised to prevent hostilities or trade disruption between them and their partners. The Draugr themselves see no issue with this dichotomy, though it is often rather offputting to other races. Much of modern Draugr society is devoted towards minimizing waste. Ship design and other engineering tasks tend to emphasize efficiency above all else, often including actual quality; gunners are trained relentlessly in accuracy, to ensure that virtually every shot hits its mark; salvagers doggedly wring vital scrap from twisted slabs of metal anyone else would dismiss as unuseable. The tendency has even infiltrated their speech patterns: there are sixty words in the Draugr language for “wasteful”, including nine expletives, with each differing in severity and connotation. Efficient, meanwhile, has fifty-one meanings, with a similar breadth of implied meanings (including four words believed to by a sort of reverse-expletive, having a severe but positive meaning). As a carryover from their glory days as a slave race, however, the Draugr have a strong sense of nobility― almost as if they feel entitled to stand among “proper” civilizations, as denied to them by the Masters. This is their one break from an otherwise complete sense of devotion to waste-reduction: while normally spartan, events such as the succession of high titles or rites of passage are relatively lavish, with all the pomp and ceremony of a royal coronation. Some Clans maintain a special Tribe, often a member of one of the administrative Houses, dedicated wholly to overseeing and preserving the various traditions associated with important events; such is the gravity of these affairs for the Draugr. Notes See Also * Original forum post * Draugr category * Draugr Ship design and Combat Tactics Category:Draugr Category:Species Overview